


Mirror

by Izzu



Series: Decade Prequel-Sequel Project [9]
Category: Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Zi-O, Tokusatsu
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-02-15 14:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18671566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzu/pseuds/Izzu
Summary: He was summoned to be someone's obstacle.  But he ended up meeting someone whose fate mirrors his own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Including this fic into the Decade Project series, because why not.

When he was first being approached by these random group of people, he honestly didn't have any initial thoughts of interfering too much in the matters of this world. This particular world where a number of Kamen Riders exist at a different time and places, where occasionally it also overlapped with few other separate Kamen Rider worlds over a brief period of time; in which occasionally allowed the Riders living in separate worlds and dimensions, who normally couldn't meet to interact with each other to be able to do so.

Well, technically he did get himself involved sometimes when the crossing of worlds and dimensions were inevitable... so he ended up using the abilities he had to maintain balance and stability of the related worlds in order to not let them be destroyed. It's a tough job... but since he had the ability to do so, he might as well put them to good use. After all, he was born to be the Destroyer of worlds and having the ability to cross various different dimensions. Wouldn't helping out to maintain order and stability on this multidimensional universe be a good use of his powers?

But because of that, he came to know about the existence of the child named Tokiwa Sougo. A child whose power might as well complement his own! Like him, Sougo's abilities was also capable of changing worlds, and like him, there were also people who'd want Sougo dead because of a future that resulted from Sougo having his special abilities.

Needless to say, Tsukasa couldn't help feeling a slight sense of a kindred spirit towards the boy. Despite the fact that his presence here was meant to be an obstacle to the kid, Tsukasa couldn't help harbouring a different objective towards the kid. In a way, he didn't really want to be that kid's enemy. If possible, he wanted to help the kid too.

But sometimes what you wish for wasn't the kind of things that you should get, and he'd seen and faced a lot of things in the past to know that some things were not meant to be disturbed or defied. And with his own abilities that are capable of causing strings of Butterfly effects that would affect the stability of worlds whether he like it or not, he'd learned to exercise caution over the things he does for 'fun'. And interfering with the matters of different Kamen Riders fit into that criteria.

Well, for now he'll do the things that was expected of him. Meanwhile, he'll observe the kid in his own way. Whether or not to oppose or support the kid, he'll make his own judgement of the situation.

Since that was something that only he himself could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a long time since I last wrote about Decade, and yes I AM aware that I did have a few fic in the old Decade project left on hiatus. But after watching Zio and the Decade tribute episodes, for sure I can't just NOT type anything about it. 
> 
> Since even now, Tsukasa has a special place in my heart, and like it or not I'm writing some fics to appreciate him more.


	2. Chapter 2

So the one who suggested his involvement was called Woz... and Ora, who was the one that approached him, was part of a group that called themselves the Time Jackers. And while the Time Jackers' objectives were to find a different candidate to replace Tokiwa Sougo as the future overlord, Woz's objective was to make sure that Tokiwa Sougo would fulfil his fate to become Oma Zi-O, the future overlord.

Fancy how the two different types of people with different motivations ended up allying with each other.

But it turned out that it was because of Sougo, as the current Kamen Rider Zi-O has allied himself with two unlikely people from the future. Whose intentions were to change the future where Oma Zi-O existed as a tyrannical overlord. In other words, people who want to stop Kamen Rider Zi-O from becoming Oma Zi-O, even if it meant killing Sougo to make it happen.

No wonder Woz would go as far as allying with an enemy in order to oppose another potential enemy.

Tsukasa let out a sigh. From what he managed to gather all around him, Sougo had allowed the two people, Tsukuyomi and Geiz, be by his side despite knowing that those two could kill him at any moment. Because the kid believed that he would not become the evil overlord that the others told him he'd become in the future. Because the kid believed that the future could change if he wills it. And the kid did somehow get along with his two supposed enemies, even as far as one could consider their relationship being one of close friends. A relationship, that reminded Tsukasa a lot of his own friendship with Hikari Natsumi, as well as a certain Onodera Yusuke.

Tsukasa thought back about his own past, and how he used to have a similar line of thinking. Being told that he was the destroyer of worlds and that he needed to destroy the AR Rider worlds to prevent the collapse of the multi-verse. How back then he refused to kill the related AR Kamen Riders after taking their powers and instead, befriending them; thinking that by doing something different he could change his own fate. That instead of being hated by the other Kamen Riders, he could be _liked_ by the others.

He thought that he was doing something right at that time, even rebelling at the constant taunts Narutaki kept throwing at him for wanting him dead. But then it turned out that he was wrong. He should have done what Kurenai Wataru told him to do from the beginning so that the worlds would not face destruction. But he was being foolish. There's no avoiding or running away from a destiny that has been already decided for you and you alone. All you can do is to face them head-on.

It was an unexpected miracle that he ended up being revived afterwards, after fulfilling the fate that was expected of him. Since then he learned that everything and everyone had a purpose in this life. And it's not something that you could easily defy on your own.

He could still remember the heartbreak he felt after finding out that he could not change or run from his own fate as a destroyer of worlds. The injustice he felt at the beginning wondering what he'd done wrong for so many people wanting to take his life! And lastly, having to accept the fate that he had to die by the hand of the person he loved most and having to make her believe that he'd become too evil to be allowed to continue living in order to make her kill him.

He wouldn't want the kid to have to suffer the very same thing.

_"I would never want to get rid of Geiz and Tsukuyomi, or ruin the world!"_

How familiar. How much like his old self, this kid who was destined to be Oma Zi-O. And to be fair, he really **did** like the kid. Anyone who doesn't curse him out the moment they encounter him deserved to be in his good book, and having Sougo recognize him as 'the guy who ate his dinner' was actually quite flattering.

That's why he decided to send the kid to see his own future as an evil overlord. Because if the kid was to be killed for something that would only happen in his far future, he might as well see for himself as to why so many people wanted him dead. And maybe, allow the kid to be prepared to face the worst.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oma Zi-O is gone."

Tsukasa paused in the midst of drinking his coffee before looking up to see Ora coming to view. The female Time Jacker smiled.

"Guess you made the right call about sending him into the future..."

Tsukasa frowned slightly at Ora's choice of words. His 'right call', as she said it... wasn't supposed to yield an immediate result. Not like this.

"I've gotta say, I didn't think he'd make it so easy."

Tsukasa got up from his chair, as he sauntered towards the railing in front of him. And he thought that the kid Sougo would react a bit more aggressively after seeing what his future self would become. Rebel a bit, have a bit more backbone or something. Try to defy fate! But perhaps Oma Zi-O had appeared to be too big of a figure for the kid to face that the actions of his future self scared him so much. So rather than to try to continue believing in himself to not end up being an evil overlord, the kid decided to give up altogether. The kid was still what...? Sixteen... seventeen years old?

Tsukasa sighed.

"Now what will I do for my own plan...?"

"What're you talking about?"

Ora spoke from behind him as he belatedly realized that he'd spoken his thoughts aloud. He turned to face her while maintaining his aloofness.

"Nothing important," he said immediately, trying to change the subject. "What're you guys going to do?"

Ora started to speak carelessly of their plans, dropping her guards on him as she thought about finding the next ruler candidate. It's just as he wanted anyway as the female Time Jacker paid him less attention now that he appeared to have achieve what the Time Jacker wants.

So now he should be able to act more freely. Since even if Sougo's actions may have changed things, he didn't think that fate would let go of its hold on the kid so easily. So there should still be things that he could do.

xxx

The other Time Jackers has also made their own moves as expected. And that was to kill Sougo before finding a replacement to take the kid's place. As he thought, it wouldn't be so easy for Sougo to relinquish his fate to continue becoming Kamen Rider Zi-O. And as if the kid's retainer Woz wouldn't do something about that as well.

But he really had to give it to the kid. Sougo's determination as to not depend on his Kamen Rider power was really commendable. So perhaps, Sougo wasn't really the weakling that he thought the kid was...

"I won't let anyone hurt my subjects. And if it means protecting them, I won't hesitate to risk my life!"

Tsukasa couldn't help smiling at that, even more as Geiz rushed over and scolded the kid and reminding Sougo that he didn't have his power to do anything at the moment. Have to say that he really liked how things were going right now...

Tsukasa hopped over towards Ora's side as the Time Jacker walked over towards the scene casually.

"I thought the excitement was over, but this is quite the party." He turned to his side to glance towards Ora. "Oi. So whose side am I on here?" he added, just to be cheeky.

"Why don't you pick?" came the irritated reply. 

_As you wish..._

He'll stay around for a bit while longer just to make things interesting, and then later he'll leave. After all, he himself had a different plan for the kid.

xxx

_"Zi-O! Use this!"_

_"All right! I'll become an overlord. And then I'll save the world!"_

In the end, things turned out to be as interesting as he wanted. Just as he thought, giving Geiz his ridewatch earlier on was a good move. Since sooner or later the ridewatch would still end up in Sougo's hand, as the one who should be able to make use of the Decade ridewatch to its fullest potential. And he could see that the kid was able to catch on quick. The kid even got the better of him by using Ex-Aid's form to overturn the odds he laid out on the kid and his friend.

That was as good as it gets, and he could sense that his presence was no longer needed for the role that was required of him. That Woz should be satisfied with this.

With this interference, Sougo's future should become less rigid than how it was before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thought crossed my mind earlier while writing this. That perhaps the fact that the new future had opened up shortly after this point could be attributed to Decade's intervention. I mean, that should be how the AR rider worlds started in the first place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna wrap this up with ep 27-28's Decade tribute to conclude this. Though it might just be a retelling of the episode from Tsukasa's POV.

He thought that he should check it out. The day when Tokiwa Sougo's family was involved in a bus accident. Since that should be the starting point where everything begins.

And perhaps, by knowing about Sougo's origins as well as the reason the kid ended up wanting to become 'king', would further provide more answers to him as to whether or not he should destroy this world where Zi-O exists. After all, Zi-O's existence, as well as all of the Time Jacker's activities, have done enough damage to the timelines of the other Kamen Riders before Zi-O. That alone should be enough reason for him to take action.

Yet, there should also be a reason for Zi-O's existence in this world.

So anyway, he had arranged for the original bus driver to not be able to go to work, which made it _natural_ for him to take over the job. There shouldn't be any other problems after that, just as how it used to be in the past. As in, back when his memories were still fragmented and mostly a blank sheet, he'd unconsciously use the Hikari Studio to manipulate the location of the place towards any world that he was supposed to go. And with each world that he goes to, his identity in those worlds would change accordingly to fit his purposes.

"Sougo!"

Tsukasa perked up as he turned slightly towards the voices. A pair of husband and wife, alongside a young child, was walking towards the bus. So there's the young Sougo, about to experience something that's going to shape his future from here on. But should he even be _rejoicing_ at this fact?

"Come on, let's pick strawberries!"

He bit his lips as he continued eyeing the family. What an innocent sight. To think that this happy moment would be shortlived; for them, as well for the rest of the passengers on this bus.

That aside, the sight of all these happy families, parents with their children, made him think about his own. Although by now, even with the few memories that he recovered, he could no longer tell if those memories were truly real or fabricated. Like the memories he had of his sister, as well as memories of his parents and the mansion that they used to live in. Not that it mattered anyway since his own world no longer exists following his 'death' by Kivaara's sword.

"Why we're not moving yet?"

Tsukasa snapped back to attention as he turned to check the time. He blinked. Oh, he should start the bus now—And just then, from the corner of his eyes, he noted a flash of _white_ stepping into the bus.

He lowered his head as to not catch her attention. It's not good for his presence to be noticed by her this early.

Guess he was not the only one thinking about coming to this point in time to learn up about things.

xxx

The figure in black appeared without warning, and they appeared unfazed at the fact that the bus might run them over. Tsukasa punched the horn in response while hitting the brakes to try to stop the bus before hitting the figure. But it didn't look like he could—And then the surrounding time around the bus stopped.

Tsukasa frowned slightly. Perhaps because he himself had the power to manipulate space and dimensions (as well as inheriting the powers of the Kamen Riders from his past and future, in which at least _two_ had the ability related to time), he wasn't quite affected by the Time Jacker's ability.

Regardless, he kept himself still so that his presence wouldn't be noticed.

And seconds later, _time_ moved again but the figure disappeared. Much to his surprise as well, the bus also remained stationary.

xxx

"You, all potential kings..."

Tsukasa turned around as he recognised the voice. It was Swartz. Tsukasa frowned at the man.

_Did he just said... potential **kings**? The man didn't come for **Sougo** especially?_

The Swartz from this point in time had a different appearance than the one he met on the latter timeline. What could this mean?

Tsukasa turned his attention back towards the bus dashboard. While the bus was still unmoving, from the looks of the many indicators, meters and readings on the dashboard, by rights, the bus hadn't really stopped. It made him wonder to what extent the Time Jacker's powers reach. Since as far as he'd observed before, Swartz's powers were much more _elaborate_ compared to Ora, or even that kid Heure.

"The ruler of time, travelling beyond time and space to reign over past and future. Among those of you born in the year 2000, some possess the potential to rise up."

Tsukasa made a face as Swartz continued talking. He was expecting to find _a clear answer_ by coming to this point of time, yet now it looked like things were much more complicated than he thought. And he didn't like this. 

He didn't like this at all.

The bus suddenly moved without warning as Tsukasa tried to see if he could regain control of the bus. But it didn't look like he could. The controls didn't seem to respond to him prodding or kicking at it.

"Thus, you will undergo this life or death trial."

He hated when people do this in his presence. Why did everything had to involve a life or death situations?

Tsukasa kept his expressions grim. It didn't look like there's much that he could do, but he could at least try to get _everyone_ to safety.

xxx

In the end, he only managed to get Tsukuyomi and himself off the bus... and followed the trail Swartz left behind to catch up on him. But the ordeal still left him with a bad aftertaste. Leaving those other people behind to their deaths—leaving _anyone_ to face their deaths—would always be terrible. Even if they were still in a suspended state that they probably wouldn't have suffered anything when they died.

_Being too kind can never be good, especially for him in these kinds of situations._

Right after they arrived at the place, Tsukuyomi immediately started looking for Sougo. Tsukasa glanced up as he saw the giant machines wreck havoc to the city.

As lauded by _those people_ coming from the distant future, the giant machines were indeed a terrifying sight.

xxx 

"Look out!"

Without warning, several disembodied characters materialized in a form of _words_ uttered by Sougo and froze the time around the other child. The kid even managed to destroy a Dai Mazine just by his own thoughts!

Swartz approached Sougo and spoken to the kid before undoing the frozen time. Little Sougo then rushed over to save the other kid before a large boulder hits them.

On their side as well, more large debris started falling around Tsukasa and Tsukuyomi before he grabbed her along towards safety. But before he left, he saw Swartz disappear again taking Sougo and the other child away from the place.

xxx

"Kamen Rider Decade!"

Tsukasa turned around to face Tsukuyomi. "You saw that? That was the birth of the overlord you and your friend have been chasing after."

"The one who set up the accident that killed Sougo's parents was Swartz. He brought the children to this future to test their potential as kings," said the girl. 

An apt observation. At least the girl didn't try to deny the things that both of them had witnessed and experienced.

He shrugged. "And the one who passed was Tokiwa Sougo."

"What was Swartz doing? It was like he gave him some kind of power..." 

Tsukasa kept himself quiet. Because what he saw was actually quite the _opposite_. It looked more as if Swartz was _altering_ Sougo's memories.  Or even _sealing_ Sougo's original power! The thought of such thing being done to Sougo reminded him of his own situation. Back then, he lost his memories and even _forgetting_ that he had any special powers besides the ones he wields as Decade. Because of that, he ended up wandering around aimlessly not knowing who he really was or what he was supposed to do.

While his situation wasn't as complicated as Sougo's, he hated the idea that someone would _intentionally_ do that to Sougo and manipulated the kid's life for some nefarious purposes.

And that's another thing. Sougo's powers, what was the kid's true power actually? While Zi-O's ability was _similar_ to Decade's ability to assume the form and power of the other Kamen Riders, was that the only ability that THAT rider form have? Also, when Sougo stopped the boulder from falling on the other kid, that light on his forehead; it reminded him of Zi-O's appearance where the characters 'Kamen Rider' was etched on the forehead and the eyes.

Was there some connection to that? And Swartz also touched that particular point on Sougo's forehead!

Tsukuyomi asked what happened to the children afterwards. And Tsukasa told him that Swartz sent them back. But he didn't mention that beside Sougo and the kid who almost died, the other children that were dragged along to this future were left behind. And he wasn't even sure now if those kids were still alive or not.

"Why are you here?"

Tsukasa stepped aside from her, turning his attention back towards the devastation that was miles away from where they were.

"I..."

"I'm trying to decide whether or not I should destroy this world. If this world is destined to have Tokiwa Sougo reign as its overlord... then the answer is pretty clear. But.."

"There might be another way?"

"Who knows?" he replied instead.

Tsukasa shrugged. Just as his own fate has been changed a long time ago, perhaps it was also possible for Zi-O to choose a different future for himself. That kind of outcome... could perhaps be possible for the kid. Since like him, Sougo had people who cared about him.

A happy ending should still be around somewhere...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A minor note about the other kids. Since we know that Sougo and Hiryu were supposed to be the only survivor of the accident, it shouldn't be hard to figure out what happened (could have happened) to the others. Swartz might even have taken some who perished back to their own time to the accident aftermath. Who knows.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this first before figuring out what to do about Daiki's appearance. Since this gonna need Tsukasa being covert as he didn't appear again until after Kiva episode.

Tsukasa let out a long sigh before skipping down towards Tsukuyomi.

"Well, we might as well get back to the present world—" he paused before turning towards her. "Hmm, do I have to take you back to the past to pick up your Time Mazine or something?"

Tsukuyomi quickly shook her head. "Ah, you don't have to worry about that. I can always recall the Time Mazine back wherever I am."

Tsukasa just shrugged. "I see, your Time Mazines were like the ones those other Time Jackers were using. So that makes things convenient—"

Tsukuyomi frowned at him. "What do you mea—" she started asking as Tsukasa lifted his hand and opened up a dimensional curtain.

Tsukasa just smirked at her before showing off a toothy grin.

"This is quicker... after all," he said before dispelling the curtain away. "Before that, may I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What are you going to do now? No, before that... I thought Sougo was supposed to be your enemy. So right now, are you going to fight alongside him or against him?"

It was something that he's always been curious about. And now might as well be the time for him to get his answers anyway.

Tsukuyomi gave him a mixed expression before shrugging. "I'm not sure," she said. Tsukuyomi let out a weak smile.

"At first when I met him, I had everything in mind to stop him from becoming Zi-O. Since Sougo seemed to be a good kid. But then he still ended up become Zi-O anyway and after that, I just focused on trying to make sure that he didn't stray to become evil while being Zi-O."

Tsukuyomi looked up towards him before continuing. "Things seemed to be fine for a while, but then after Sougo started showing signs that he awakened some special powers I—I had to admit that Sougo scared me a bit."

She gave Tsukasa another glance before looking away guiltily. "For a moment, we parted ways with Sougo—Geiz and I. And I tried so hard to convince Geiz and myself that Sougo really has to die before he becomes Oma Zi-O..."

"And then you went back to the past—" Tsukasa interjected. "It sounded to me that you still had some doubts. Or did you have a different intention when you got into the bus earlier?"

Tsukuyomi avoided looking to his eyes as Tsukasa took notice of her reaction. He sighed to himself again.

"I supposed it couldn't be helped," he said again as Tsukuyomi glanced back at him. "But after everything we've seen earlier, you must have had a change of mind, right? Hard to not think badly of the kid after seeing him standing up to Swartz and all."

Tsukuyomi nodded as Tsukasa sighed.

"So now what's left would be... what your other friend gonna do about the kid?"

Tsukuyomi stared at him, puzzled. "Geiz? What did you mean?

"I saw the other kid's Time Mazine. It was during the time you confronted Swartz to let Sougo free."

Tsukuyomi gasped as Tsukasa nodded his head.

"I doubted the other kid could see properly what happened in the bus, considering that I was also frantically trying to manoeuvre the out of control bus—"

"The explosion!" she exclaimed immediately, realizing the implication. And since Tsukasa took her along while inside the tunnel, it meant that no one outside would be able to know what happened besides the bus exploding and/or crashing onto something. Tsukuyomi quickly grabbed Tsukasa's arm tightly.

"Let's go back! Please!"

Tsukasa nodded to her before opening again the dimensional curtain.

xxx

The sight of the trio reuniting was adorable. The boys acting as if they were still at odds to fool Tsukuyomi and then happily greeted each other as if neither of them hadn't just tried to kill the other a few minutes earlier. How charming.

If only things were this simple.

Tsukasa's smile turned sour as he continued to conceal his presence from the three kids.

His investigation so far led him to finding out more about Tokiwa Sougo. He thought he would be able to find out if he should just allow this world to exist or just destroy it if he only knew about Sougo's origins. Because then, it'll be easy for him to decide what to do. He thought wrong.

Guess he still has to continue his watch over those kids. Which means he had some more investigation to do before wrapping this all up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, the more I kept thinking about Zi-O's plot and trying to view this from Tsukasa's pov, the more this gets harder. Ah well, might as well just roll with it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I'm kinda sorry if any of the later time-bending musings get super confusing. Since it IS quite a challenge when you try to make sense of the current Rider universe timelines while the show kept breaking its own rules for the many taisen plots.
> 
> Sorry it took a while for this chapter to pop out, but I needed to get a grasp of the current situation in Zi-O before continuing, rather than going blind and improvise all the way. And since Kabuto arc mentioned of the distortions, I might as well build up the back story that could line up to how Tsukasa realising that later.

_Sougo's true powers were awakening_ , Tsukasa mused by himself as he silently sauntered towards a park by himself.

Well, guess that should've been expected of the boy.

To be fair, he did think that there's more to the kid than meets the eye. Like how himself—Decade—not only having the power to take the form and powers of other Kamen Riders but also to cross different dimensions by his own will. He had an inkling that it should be the same thing with Zi-O.

_Things were never ever so simple... when it comes to them, Kamen Riders._

Tsukasa's thoughts hovered back towards Sougo.

From the information he got from Tsukuyomi, aside from the few incidents of Sougo rewinding time by his own sheer will to change bad outcomes that he saw and make it a good outcome, it seemed that for now, the kid has been using his powers unconsciously. Which was true in the case of the three 'future' Kamen Riders that the kid encountered before. That in itself was a curious ability. Aside from being able to manipulate the flow of time itself, did Sougo unconsciously created those new future timelines or did his abilities allowed him to even see through the events in other _parallel_ worlds?

Tsukasa thought about his own powers and how his very existence itself was capable of influencing the creations of other parallel worlds. Did his existence influence Sougo's fate too?

Just as the thoughts came to him, the ghosts of Narutaki's taunts and curses came into mind. Tsukasa hastily shook his head to usher the thoughts away.

Come to think, the worlds have been behaving oddly too.

Ever since his own revival, the worlds of the nine Heisei Kamen Riders, (the world of the Showa riders and the subsequent other parallel worlds) had been capable of existing side by side without destroying each other. While that may be due to his own powers making it work, he still couldn't help thinking that there were other greater forces that allowed the different universes to exist in a state of balance. Yet, there were times when the different worlds, as well as parallel worlds, were able to intersect and allowed some people from the different worlds to interact temporarily before returning back to its previous states.

How was that even possible?

 _Could it be because of the rule of **his** original world that allowed this to_ _happen? The rules of the world of Decade..._

Tsukasa shook his head hard to force himself to stop thinking about that. All this hard thinking making his head hurts.

_Regardless, he couldn't help feeling as if there was something else he missed._

Tsukasa frowned, as he continued wandering around aimlessly. But as soon as another thought popped into his mind he stopped walking.

Wait.

These past few weeks, he has been focusing too much on Tokiwa Sougo that he didn't really pay that much attention about anything else! Did he overlook something before?

Without warning, Tsukasa felt a hard jab on the side of his neck before starting to laugh uncontrollably.

_Wait, this technique... there's only one person who'd use it on him!_

Tsukasa turned around in horror.

"Na—Natsumikan? How—?"

That's weird. He hasn't use his powers to return to the world where Hikari Studio reside, so why was Natsumi in front of him?

"Finally, I found you! Where did you go, Tsukasa? I've been looking for you for so long—have you been out for some mischief somewhere?"

Tsukasa hastily hushed the lady immediately before speaking softly. "I'll explain later. First thing, how _long_ have you been looking for me? Also, did you notice anything odd where you went to look for me?"

"Wha—" Natsumi started to say as she stopped in her tracks, noticing the urgency in Tsukasa's voice. "What did you mean?"

Tsukasa frowned. "Did you notice anything looking different or seeing something that wasn't there before or whatever. Anything at all that you can recall now?"

Natsumi blinked. "I—" she started to say before a frown also lined her forehead as well.

"Come to think, earlier... I kept noticing how Yuusuke kept going missing and popping back again without warning. And he _insisted_ that he hadn't gone anywhere far from the studio and it was **me** that kept disappearing from his sight."

Natsumi gasped as she grasped Tsukasa's arm.

"Oh! There was this one time I thought I saw a giant robot appearing in the city. But then later on I didn't see it again or hear anyone else talk about it. _As if it never happened_. And I noticed how some buildings and shops near the studio looked different than how I remembered it. Or were placed differently than I remember it, but then without warning, everything went back to what it used to be."

_Time... and space distortions..._

Tsukasa bit his lips. This didn't sound so good.

He grabbed Natsumi's arm before summoning his dimension curtain. "Let's get back to the studio, I had a bad feeling about this."

"What do you mean—!" she exclaimed as they popped back inside the studio's living room a second later. Natsumi's grandfather gave them a curious look before heading back into the kitchen.

"Stay here and don't go out unless you need to. While this might really be nothing to be concerned about, it won't hurt to be cautious."

"What's wrong? Did you do something that caused the strange things to happen?" she asked again as Tsukasa just waved her off.

"It's not me. Though I might have influenced it a bit. Even if right now I wasn't quite sure about it. I probably need to continue with my investigation."

"Investigation?"

Tsukasa just smiled at her.

"There's this kid, who always dreamed about being a king. But his path towards that goal might not be as simple as some people might think. I think there's still more about that kid that I need to find out."

Natsumi gave him a curious look. "Really? You sound like the kid interest you a lot."

Tsukasa shrugged. "Who knows? But it's true that I can't help myself to keep watching over him, the kid was cute."

He flicked his fingers to summon his dimension curtain again before turning to leave. "And I was serious about my earlier warning. Unless you want to risk getting lost outside without a clue of how to get back home safely, you might want to stay indoors a lot more than outside."

"There's also another thing—!" Natsumi cried out again. Tsukasa paused before turning around to face her.

"What?"

"Have you seen Kaito around? He was here not long ago to find you, but made quite a big fuss when I told him that you've been away for quite some time."

Tsukasa rolled his eyes around at the mention of the thief. "I'll try to look for him. Thanks for the heads up, Natsumikan."

"Be careful!"

Tsukasa blinked as Natsumi suddenly exclaimed. "Try not to do anything too reckless by yourself."

Tsukasa snorted.

"What did you take me for? I'm just a passing destroyer of worlds, I _know_ how to take care of myself. See you later," he said cheerfully before leaving.

Back into Zi-O's world, Tsukasa's face went grim.

"That idiot. He better not do anything unnecessary. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean seriously, I wished that show get back to having all other rider worlds in their own separate universes again. It's easier for the brain to make sense of stuff.
> 
> That aside, I missed Natsumi so might as well use her to introduce the time distortion setup.

**Author's Note:**

> Extra note: It turned out (so far) that Tsukasa gonna pop up again in ep 37, 38 as well as 41, 42. I'll definitely be covering Diend's episode as well. 
> 
> Tho right now I'm contemplating between continuing the plot to a different fic or remain on this one.


End file.
